Fertilizer particles comprising iron

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the field of fertilizer particle. In particular, it relates to a fertilizer particle comprising a fertilizer core and an outside layer of a conditioning agent comprising an iron chelate component dissolved in a solvent, characterized in that the solvent is selected from the group of glycols, glycol ethers and mixtures thereof, an iron chelate component, and optionally urea. The present disclosure also related to the method of preparing such a fertilizer particle. In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a liquid composition, comprising an iron chelate component dissolved in a solvent selected from the group of glycols, glycol ethers and mixtures thereof, and urea. Finally, it also related to the use of a liquid composition, comprising an iron chelate component dissolved in a solvent selected from the group of glycols, glycol ethers and mixtures thereof, and optionally urea, as a coating agent for solid fertilizer particles.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present disclosure relates to the field of fertilizer particles, in particular fertilizer particles coated with a composition comprising iron.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Iron (Fe) is a micronutrient required by all plants and crops to optimize their growth. It plays a role in a large number of biological processes, such as nitrate and sulfate reduction, energy production, chlorophyll synthesis, and lignin formation. Although iron is found in most soils, it is often required to supply crops with an additional source of iron to meet all the crop requirements.[0003]Iron deficiency is a common micronutrient disorder in many crops, particularly those grown in areas with calcareous and high pH soils. In general, soil application of inorganic iron sources such as ferrous sulphate is ineffective in treating this micronutrient deficiency because the iron is rapidly converted into non-available, insoluble forms under these soil conditions, e.g. iron oxide....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]Surprisingly it has now been discovered that compositions containing an iron chelate component dissolved in a solvent selected from the group of glycols, glycol ethers and mixtures thereof, are highly suitable for fertilizer coating applications, thus providing an easy and flexible method whereby solid fertilizers can be coated with an effective source of iron without negatively affecting fertilizer quality.

Problems solved by technology

In general, soil application of inorganic iron sources such as ferrous sulphate is ineffective in treating this micronutrient deficiency because the iron is rapidly converted into non-available, insoluble forms under these soil conditions, e.g. iron oxide.

This can be achieved by incorporating micronutrients during the prilling or granulation process but practical considerations in high volume production operations imply that it is difficult to satisfy the widely different nutrient requirements of different crops and different soil types using this approach.

However, attempts to prepare oil-based suspensions of FeEDDHA, FeEDDHMA and FeHBED have proved unsuccessful.

Such compositions would be extremely difficult to handle and could not be easily applied as a fertilizer coating.